Vacationers Shocked To Find Hidden Cameras In Their Airbnb Room

By: Mackenzie Wright | October 21, 2017

A couple from Indiana took a trip to visit Longboat Key in Florida, and planned their stay at an Airbnb. During their stay, the man noticed something unusual about the smoke detector. He took it down to get a better look at it, and was shocked to discover that it was a camera that had been pointing at the bed.

Derek Starnes and his wife rented the Airbnb room from 56-year-old Wayne Natt. Starnes, who works in tech, was curious about a small, black hole in the smoke detector. Upon inspection he discovered that it was actually a video pointing at the bed in the room. There was another one pointing in the living room.

The horrified couple realized they were victims of a peeping Tom. He and his wife report that they are very 'distressed by this situation'.

The couple immediately called the Longboat Key Police Department. Police came to check and saw the camera rig for themselves.

"I would've never noticed," Lt. Bob said to Fox 13 News. "The smoke detector had a small black dot where the camera was mounted on the side of it. There was one in the master bedroom which was pointed at a bed and then one in the living room."

Police arrested Natt, who admitted that the camera was used to capture people having sex in the room. He says he put the camera in the smoke detector in order to 'get a better angle'. The rental owner also says that the people who stay there know that they're being filmed.

Natt had been renting his home through Airbnb for two years. According to the website, he had more than 40 reviews on it. Police believe many people who stayed in the home are victims and are asking former guests to come forward.

Airbnb's spokesperson said that the company was 'outraged' by the report.

“As soon as we were made aware, we permanently banned this individual from our community and fully supported the affected guests. Our team has reached out to local law enforcement to aid them with their investigation of the egregious offense and we hope justice is served. We take privacy issues extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy against this behavior.”

Natt has been arrested and has been charged with one count of voyeurism. As of this writing, no other guests have come forward and the matter is still under investigation.

Hidden cameras are a growing problem in the digital age. There was a time when cameras had to be hidden in something large, and a tape or a memory card disc had to be retrieved in order for a peeping Tom to view the images. Even the least sophisticated hidden surveillance equipment was expensive and one had to go to specialty stores to find it and learn how to rig it up.

Now, cameras are tiny enough to fit into smoke detectors, clock radios or even clothing hooks on the wall. Operating the device is easy; it’s ready to go. No longer do peeping Tom’s need to risk getting caught by going back for a disc; they can transmit images remotely and can pick them up from anywhere without being traced. To top it off, equipment such as this is easily available at many online stores, and can be found for under $100.